Animal Behavior Ms. Canga

What can contribute? Irresponsible pet ownership Inappropriate training Inappropriate socialization Other (dogs that just ain’t right)

RESPONSIBLE PET OWNERSHIP Vaccinate their pet against rabies. Restrain their pet with a leash or keep it behind a fence. Spay or neuter their pet. License their pet. Provide food, water, shelter, exercise and grooming. Take their pet for veterinary care Provide love and affection. Keep their pet free of fleas.

An animal is considered currently vaccinated if it has either: (1) been vaccinated for rabies within the last 12 months; or, (2) received 2 rabies vaccinations within 12 months of each other and the latter of these 2 rabies vaccinations having been with a 3-year vaccine and 3 years have not passed from the date of the latter vaccination.

Dangerous Dog A Dangerous Dog is defined in the Texas Health & Safety Code, Chapter 822, Subchapter A as a dog that:  any dog that causes a person's death or serious bodily injury, regardless of provocation or the location in which the incident occurred.

(f) The court may NOT order the dog destroyed if the court finds that the dog caused the serious bodily injury to a person by attacking, biting, or mauling the person and: (1)the dog was being used for the protection of a person or person's property, the attack, bite, or mauling occurred in an enclosure in which the dog was being kept, and: (A) the enclosure was reasonably certain to prevent the dog from leaving the enclosure on its own and provided notice of the presence of a dog; and (B) the injured person was at least eight years of age, and was trespassing in the enclosure when the attack, bite, or mauling occurred; (2) the dog was not being used for the protection of a person or person's property, the attack, bite, or mauling occurred in an enclosure in which the dog was being kept, and the injured person was at least eight years of age and was trespassing in the enclosure when the attack, bite, or mauling occurred; (3) the attack, bite, or mauling occurred during an arrest or other action of a peace officer while the peace officer was using the dog for law enforcement purposes; (4) the dog was defending a person from an assault or person's property from damage or theft by the injured person; or (5) the injured person was younger than eight years of age, the attack, bite, or mauling occurred in an enclosure in which the dog was being kept, and the enclosure was reasonably certain to keep a person younger than eight years of age from entering.

Although canine homicides are extremely rare, they are significant primarily because they are investigated closely, and a good amount of detail often is reported, enabling experts to form opinions about a variety of issues pertaining to dog bites.  About 20 dog attacks per year result in the death of an American  These incidents are referred to as “canine homicides”, meaning that the death of a human was inflicted by a dog.

Consider four fatal attacks included in the CDC statistics.

A man was bitten in the forearm by a Pit bull. The bite was not serious but introduced into the wound was a virulent and fast spreading bacteria. The man died 4 days later from this virulent bacterial infection.

A teenage girl give birth to a infant, distraught and frightened, she tossed the hours-old infant into a neighboring-junk-strewn yard where two Pit bulls resided. The dogs killed the newborn.

A German shepherd mixed breed dog went into a bedroom, lifted a newborn out of a crib and carried the infant (by the head) into the living room where the adults were seated

An elderly man attempts to stop his German Shepherd dog from fence fighting with his neighbor's dog, the dog turns on his owner, severely mauling him, inflicting fatal head and neck wounds.

The CDC was right, in that four people died as a result of a dog bite. But were all these bites the result of aggression? Were they the same type or level of aggression? Which behaviors initiated the attack, human or canine? So the number of deaths by dogs (as per the CDC) cannot be used to define aggression, or the aggression of certain breeds, as aggression is not defined or qualified.

There has been no published study of the number of dog bites suffered by humans which resulted from an attack or attempted attack by one dog against another dog. Nevertheless, the experience of Attorney Kenneth Phillips suggests that a significant percentage of bites to humans result from such incidents. For that reason, it is his opinion that a dog's propensity to attack other dogs clearly makes that dog dangerous to people.

1. First Degree Murder: All premeditated murders, and (in some states) murders involving certain especially dangerous felonies, such as arson or rape, or committed by an inmate serving a life sentence. 2. Second Degree Murder: Non pre-meditated killing. 3. Third Degree Murder: Any other murder.

Sabine Davidson -- the first person convicted of second degree murder because of a dog attack

April 1997, Geary County, Kansas. Davidson owned three Rottweillers and trained them as protection dogs. However, she herself never was instructed as to how to train them properly. Two young brothers were waiting for their school bus, and the dogs got out of their yard, and went for the boys. They ran up a tree. When the dogs walked away, the younger brother climbed down and looked for the dogs. They found him and killed him.

It is possible to murder a person with a dog, and for that murder to qualify as first degree murder.

On September 2, 1992, in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA, Jeffrey David Mann commanded his pit bull to brutally and repeatedly attack Angela “Dolly” Dennise Kaplan. Angela had been living with Jeffrey and his dog, Mac, since late Dolly’s arm was severely mutilated; her artery was severed; and the attack was so intense, her arm bone was gouged by Mac’s teeth. Had Jeffrey Mann sought medical attention for her, Angela would have survived, but would have lost her arm according to the Cuyahoga County Coroner. Instead, Jeffrey Mann watched her bleed to death and did not report the incident for approximately three or four hours. Between the time of the attack and when authorities arrived, he and/or parties unknown or unidentified bathed the dog and moved Angela’s body from the bedroom to the living room sofa and began concocting numerous lies about what happened. Homicide detective, Michaelene Taliano, stated that the bedroom looked like a butcher shop. There was blood on the bed, floor, walls, and ceiling.

After in depth research and analyzing the studies performed by the American Veterinary Medical Association, the CDC, and the Humane Society of the United States, we have compiled the top ten most dangerous dog breeds.

10. Dalmatian

9. Boxer

8. Presa Canario

7. Chow Chow

6. Doberman Pinschers

5. Alaskan Malamutes

4. Huskies

3. German Shepherds

2. Rottweilers

1. Pit Bulls